City Council

Thursday, October 8, 2026, 1:30 p.m. (New York City time), Council Chambers - City Hall

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Roll-call votes

Documents

Summary

At its October 8, 2026 stated meeting, the City Council adopted the day's land use call-ups by a vote read as 46 in the affirmative and zero in the negative, then adopted all items on the general orders calendar by a vote read as 47 to 0, with Intro. 489-A adopted 46 to 0 with one abstention. The general orders included several rezonings (among them the Sojourner Truth/Mapes, Fort Hamilton Mews, Park Avenue Brooklyn and 289 Kent Avenue applications), Article XI tax exemptions, Intro. 604-A (a study of language access and geography in access to early gifted and talented programs), Intro. 489-A (a centralized online database of towed vehicles) and Intro. 799-A (Small Business Services support for businesses affected by City construction). By voice vote the Council adopted Resolution 328 (a state tax credit for businesses affected by infrastructure construction), Resolution 458 (urging designation of Little Yemen as a cultural district) and a resolution declaring Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month. Speaker Julie Menin reported on the Council's committee-of-the-whole hearing on artificial intelligence, an expanded nonprofit payment pilot and funding for small business panic buttons and security cameras. During general discussion members described newly introduced bills, including AI advertising disclosures (Intro. 1130), the POWER Act (Intro. 1105), domestic violence reporting by the NYPD (Intro. 1106) and community impact statements for transient hotels (Intro. 1117).

Transcript

0:00 The body. I welcome the

0:00 members of the public who have

0:04 joined us today during stated

0:06 meetings only members of the

0:07 council speak. Members of the

0:09 public shall remain silent if

0:12 you wish to express your

0:13 support of any remarks you

0:14 make the sound approval

0:18 gesture. And before we go an

0:18 yfurther. I also want to

0:21 recognize we have a very

0:22 special birthday in the house

0:27 to our speaker, Julie Menin

0:40 . Birthday speaker men in and

0:42 now if you all can stand again

0:44 of allegiance and now I had

1:16 asked our City click for the

1:20 roll call aldo ball here,

1:30 arriola Avilés. Thanks here,

1:37 Brewer? Yeah, Brooks Powers

1:47 cab on dela Rosa here.

1:52 Janowicz here incarnation,

1:58 but santa

2:03 . Epstein present for ya, but

2:06 isn't the colombian

2:10 . Told her here. Police. Okay

2:14 ,present them genero here.

2:21 Hanif Hankerson. Thanks.

2:39 Present, Hudson Joseph here

2:49 .Krishnan very much here. Lee

2:55 here

2:56 , lewis, president baloney.

3:03 Here, martin presente Mealy

3:13 moreno here, darcy's president

3:25 , Nurse Brooks Powers.

3:30 Hankerson it's an honor t

3:36 obe here. Oh, say I'm here.

3:44 Paladino wrestler here, Riley

3:50 president, salon president

3:56 Justin Sanchez physically

3:59 present

3:59 . Pierina Ana santos. Whoa! So

4:06 here. Here. Stevens, Thomas

4:16 Henry present Paladino on

4:23 president bernick off. Yeah.

4:28 Williams, I'm here. Wilson

4:36 president adrienne, right? Who

4:44 are here. Nurse we away here,

5:01 Avilés

5:01 . But a center car a brad

5:14 presente Hudson present

5:18 speaker men in here, but.

5:27 Glad to hear it. Thank you

5:28 very much we will

5:28 . Now have today's invocation,

5:31 which we delivered by rabbi

5:33 yossi mendelson of

5:34 congregation mckinney kadosh,

5:35 which is located at 11012 68

5:37 avenue in queens. Why, when

5:50 diaz De there are moments in

5:54 life.

5:54 That force us to face what

5:56 matters most in times of

5:59 crisis. We have to choose

6:00 between the superficial and

6:04 the authentic between the

6:04 temporal and the eternal

6:08 . October 7 2023, was one such

6:09 day for me, it was a holy day

6:14 and my religious observances

6:16 limited my access to accurat

6:21 einformation, and so in tha

6:22 tfog of uncertainty, my

6:24 imagination ran wild with a

6:27 terrible possibility. What if

6:31 never again turned out to be a

6:36 false hope, and I thought of

6:37 my great great great

6:41 grandfather abraham, my great

6:42 grandfather, abraham bhairav

6:43 came to this country escaping

6:46 violence against jews at the

6:47 end of the nineteenth century

6:50 ,and he became the patriarch of

6:52 seven generations of New

6:56 yorkers he thought he'd

6:56 survive as a poet and

6:57 journalist. But when he saw

6:58 the crisis of disadvantaged

7:01 workers, he stepped up,

7:04 leading the garment garment

7:05 workers union as they

7:06 desperately tried to prevent

7:09 tragedies like the triangle

7:12 shirtwaist fire his life

7:14 reminds me that never again is

7:16 not just about survival.

7:20 Instead, it's about what you

7:23 stand for. It's about what

7:24 survives through you

7:27 . His fight for justice,

7:30 fairness and humanity

7:31 continued the life and

7:32 teaching of his great for

7:35 father, his namesake, the

7:41 biblical abraham, the biblical

7:41 abraham's message is this as

7:44 life is everywhere so to its

7:51 source, the source of life is

7:52 known by many names, but

7:54 really is beyond any name, the

7:58 infinite, eternal and almighty

7:59 he is beyond gender and class

8:03 . We are all contained and

8:06 sustained by the same source.

8:09 God is bigger than religion.

8:13 There is no place, no aspect

8:15 of life where the almighty is

8:19 absent and I believe that the

8:21 biblical abraham. What? See

8:22 ,what's happening right here,

8:25 right now in this chambers.

8:28 As the fulfillment of his

8:33 message. Look, women and men

8:34 whose decisions will shape the

8:35 future of this great City and

8:37 in many ways guide the course

8:38 of the whole world are

8:41 beginning their deliberations

8:41 and their work with a moment

8:44 of sincere reflection in

8:47 prayer. God is here to even in

8:50 the halls of human power, we

8:54 invite a reminder of our

8:56 sacred responsibility to

8:59 humanity that we remember to

9:00 care for each other as the

9:02 source of life cares for u

9:07 sthat we remember our

9:08 obligation to uphold the

9:09 dignity of every human life to

9:12 strengthen the families and

9:14 communities that sustain life

9:15 and to craft policies grounded

9:19 and compassion, responsibility

9:20 and the sanctity of life,

9:24 never again begins in

9:25 ethrough action and the choices

9:30 we make the institutions we

9:31 build and the lives we refused

9:34 to abandon and so let us pray

9:38 the one source of life

9:41 almighty god guide our

9:42 deliberations and our

9:45 decisions, we act with wisdom

9:47 and compassion, humility and

9:51 courage. We affirm the dignity

9:52 of every human life and

9:55 nurture the families and

9:57 communities through which life

10:01 flourishes and the favor and

10:02 pleasantness of the all

10:04 merciful and all mighty rest

10:05 on our work for peace and

10:08 prosperity on men and thank

10:18 you, rabbi. Medalist and I

10:19 would now ask counsel berlin

10:20 to spread the indication on

10:22 the.

10:23 Record. Thank you, rabbi

10:26 mendelson has served for 1

10:27 6years as a spiritual leader of

10:31 congregation nina ma, hani

10:34 hoda synagogue, widely known

10:35 for its warm, inclusive and

10:37 uplifting atmosphere over his

10:39 many years of leadership. He

10:40 has built deep roots and a

10:42 broad network of connections

10:43 across the rich and diverse

10:44 communities of queens, a

10:47 dedicated, educated with over

10:48 two decades of teaching

10:50 experience. He also serves as

10:51 the local representative for

10:52 the raw jewish learning

10:54 institute making high level

10:55 jewish learning accessible t

10:56 oadults of all backgrounds a

10:58 graduate of the rabbinical

10:59 college of canada, rabbi

11:02 mendelson provides spiritual

11:02 care to individuals of all

11:04 faiths as a chaplain at New

11:06 York presbyterian queens

11:07 hospital where he serves on

11:09 both the clinical pastoral

11:11 training faculty and the

11:13 ethics committee. He

11:14 previously chaired the bible

11:14 studies department at the

11:16 jewish institute of queens, an

11:17 active member of the

11:19 rabbinical council of queens

11:20 .he and his wife, musky, who is

11:22 here today are the proud

11:24 parents of seven children and

11:24 have one son in law. I make

11:27 now make a motion to spread

11:28 the invocation and full upon

11:37 the record. Thank you. We will

11:38 now ask counselor Vickie

11:40 Paladino the adoption of the

11:42 . Minutes and take a motion at

11:43 the minutes of the state and

11:45 meeting of September 24 2026

11:47 be adopted and sprinted. Thank

11:51 you messages and papers from

11:53 the Mayor. None communication

11:55 from City, county and borrow

11:57 offices. None.

11:58 Partitions and

12:01 communications none.

12:02 Land use call ups m 92

12:04 ,studio 54. Mmm

12:07 . Thank you. I would ask that

12:08 the clerk take a roll call

12:10 vote on today's land use. Call

12:12 it aldo ball.

12:16 I bought I areola.

12:21 Avilés I Banks, all right,

12:28 Brewer? Yes, Brooks Powers

12:35 high Cabán De La Rosa. I thank

12:41 you.

12:41 Dinner wits. I I

12:47 . I.

12:48 Epstein. Yes

12:52 . Farías. What? I here.

12:57 So lenders calypso council

13:01 councilmember fell to land use

13:05 coal ups. Yes, thank you.

13:10 You're police, ionel

13:14 . I got Gutiérrez. I have

13:23 Hankerson, all right. Hank's

13:28 I'm tied high.

13:33 Joseph I. Krishnna, I leave

13:41 I lewis. Hi,

13:44 Maloney. I mart, I Mealy

13:56 murano

13:56 . I marcie's high Nurse high

14:08 or saying, you know Paladino I

14:16 wrestler

14:17 . Ah, I.

14:21 Aye, aye, salam. All right,

14:25 Justin Sanchez. I am.

14:29 Pierina Sanchez permission

14:31 to vote on all matters on

14:32 today's state agenda.

14:36 Granted.

14:37 Santos or so I the showman I

14:46 Stevens.

14:46 I.

14:47 Thomas Henry I on.

14:52 I thank you, bernie bernick.

14:56 I.

14:56 Williams

14:56 . How would I.

14:59 Wilson I one

15:09 . Thanks. Okay.

15:11 Wang, I swing I car.

15:19 I hope, jose, I aubrey, you

15:25 . Majority of permission to

15:26 vote on all items coupled on

15:27 today's general order calenda

15:30 r.

15:30 I don't know. This is a

15:31 tough for majority leader

15:36 . Granted, I thought I thank

15:40 you.

15:40 Speaker men and I do. You

15:54 got? Today's landers call ups

15:55 are adopted by a vote of 46 in

15:56 the affirmative, zero in the

16:02 negative. Thank you. We will

16:02 now have communication from

16:04 speaker. Many.

16:05 Thank you, leader? Um, so

16:10 good afternoon, everyone this

16:12 week has certainly been no

16:15 ordinary week and monday's

16:16 hearing was no ordinary

16:19 hearing we convened a rare

16:21 committee of the whole

16:23 oversight hearing to discuss

16:24 artificial intelligence and I

16:28 just an incredible, incredible

16:33 hearing and many of you stuck

16:34 it out along with myself and

16:39 charity to the bitter, bitter

16:39 and late at night and so

16:41 really, really appreciated

16:44 that we discuss the benefits

16:45 that produce the threats that

16:47 pose and the responsible

16:48 guardrails around it that we

16:49 have proposed to ensure that

16:51 New yorkers are protected

16:54 . We listen to incredibly

16:57 compelling testimony from

16:57 whistle blowers that had com

16:58 efrom all over the country from

17:02 experts from academics we

17:03 heard from City agencies to

17:06 receive their perspectives on

17:06 the policies that we are

17:08 seeking to implement and

17:10 . We ask questions to the

17:12 firm's leading the research

17:14 and development of this very

17:18 technology

17:18 . One thing was very clear

17:19 their answers were concerning

17:22 Lee insufficient and hardly

17:24 instilled confidence.

17:25 We are proud to be the City.

17:26 Let me be clear with the most

17:29 tech jobs in the country even

17:31 more than san francisco over

17:35 400000 jobs. We're so thrilled

17:36 to be able to have all of

17:37 these different startups that

17:38 are locating here that are

17:40 doing an work in a I around

17:43 medical and scientific

17:44 breakthroughs we do.

17:45 Not want to stifle

17:47 innovation on the contrary, we

17:48 want you to foster it and the

17:51 best way to continue that

17:53 responsible growth of a I is

17:55 to ensure that New yorkers

17:57 have faith and confidence that

17:58 the models of the frontier

18:00 companies are releasing are

18:05 indeed safe. So if it is quote

18:05 unquote, it is more likely

18:07 than not that we would lose

18:08 control to eyes and it could

18:10 end in.

18:11 Human extinction. This is a

18:12 direct quote that

18:13 whistleblower, jacob coxon

18:14 told us on Monday, then cos

18:17 self regulating this industry

18:20 is one solution that

18:21 accelerates that and that

18:23 really can cause concern. So

18:24 this certainly doesn't have t

18:25 obe the case. It's in our power

18:26 to ensure that it isn't, and

18:30 I'm certainly hopeful that are

18:31 hearing can serve as a model

18:34 for meaningful progress at the

18:36 e.at

18:36 I'm excuse me or federal

18:38 level.

18:39 Ah and let me just say one

18:40 other word on that.

18:42 Obviously we want to see

18:43 action on the federal level as

18:45 I said on Monday, but there

18:47 has not been that and so in

18:50 the absence of federal.

18:52 Regulation. It is absolutely

18:56 our obligations in New York

18:57 City to step up when all of

18:59 these companies have huge

19:01 outposts here, employing

19:02 thousands and thousands of

19:04 workers and as I said at the

19:06 hearing just like the

19:07 pharmaceutical industry

19:08 doesn't self regulate you, of

19:09 course, have the just as

19:12 airline regularly, industry

19:13 doesn't self regulate. You

19:14 have the just like the

19:16 financial services firms don't

19:18 self regulate. They have the

19:19 and other agencies so

19:23 similarly, our legislation and

19:24 I want to thank the colleagues

19:27 who.

19:27 Legislation that package of

19:29 bills is chan bills are really

19:31 important to ensure

19:33 responsible.

19:34 Development of safe models

19:35 moving forward and as I said,

19:37 I look forward to having othe

19:38 rcommittees have hearings on a

19:40 I and consider additional

19:41 legislation as well.

19:43 So Monday was the beginning

19:46 of that this morning I was

19:48 proud to make an announcement

19:50 along with a number of

19:51 colleagues here and the Mayor

19:52 that the council is expanding

19:55 a pilot program that expedites

19:57 the distribution of funding t

19:59 onot for profit so that they

20:00 can receive it in 30 days. 60.

20:05 Yeah. Yes, exactly right

20:10 matters.

20:10 Successfully cutting payment

20:11 timeline spray around 300% o

20:16 naverage, together with the

20:16 mayoral administration. This

20:17 initial discretionary grant

20:20 pilot had originally last year

20:22 served a hundred, not for

20:24 profits. Now we're doing an

20:25 expansion should benefit over

20:27 800, not for profits that are

20:29 working on the ground to the

20:31 the lives of New yorkers.

20:34 Specifically the streamlined

20:35 process eliminates over half a

20:38 dozen steps of the

20:40 bureaucratic odyssey that

20:41 previously burden not for

20:42 profits. So we look forward to

20:45 making it easier for more, not

20:46 for profits to access the

20:47 funding that they were

20:49 promised in order to hel

20:51 pkeeping the people of our cit

20:54 y. Speaking of essential

20:56 assistance. Today. We also

20:57 announced that we're

20:58 furthering support for small

20:59 businesses through funding

21:00 that will be used in the stall

21:03 panic buttons and security

21:04 cameras for small businesses.

21:08 This is our building on joint

21:08 efforts about the council and

21:10 attorney general tissue curb

21:13 retail theft because employees

21:15 must be safe and feel safe

21:16 when they are at work as the

21:20 City develops a permanent

21:21 security program for small

21:22 reach our businesses under

21:24 local law hundred 20 thi

21:25 sinitiative comes in advance of

21:28 its implementation, certainly

21:29 protecting public safety and

21:32 strengthening economic

21:33 vibrancy come hand in hand and

21:34 we were so excited to make

21:35 progress on both of those

21:40 priorities. Yesterday marked

21:41 three years is October 7, th

21:43 eworst day in israel's history

21:44 and the deadliest attack on

21:45 the jewish state since its

21:49 founding.

21:49 Jews across the world

21:50 remember the terror of that

21:51 morning, they recalled the

21:52 fear and the hatred it stoked

21:54 and we mourned the innocent

21:57 ,unfulfilled lives that were